Toyota And Maybe Honda And Mazda Asking For A Bailout

It’s not just US automakers that are in trouble these days. Toyota is asking its government for a bailout and now Bloomberg says that Honda and Mazda might do the same.

Honda and Mazda would follow Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest carmaker, in seeking loans from the government as the global recession hammers auto demand. U.S. auto sales in February slid to the lowest rate since December 1981, led by a 53 percent plunge for General Motors Corp.

Vehicle sales are down 35-40% worldwide, says the Detroit Free Press, clearly relieved that “despite their frequent depiction as the only dunderheads unable to peddle cars,” Detroit is not alone in its misery.